Wonder

Airbnb Safety Perceptions

Delivered September 30, 2019. Contributor: Jennifer P.

Goals

Gain an understanding of the global perception of safety on Airbnb in 2019

Early Findings

Neighbors tended to have the most safety concerns around short term rentals like AirBnb. 50% of those surveyed said they would feel “less safe” given their next door neighbor hosted AirBnb renters. 

Of those who hadn’t used short term rental services like AirBnb, only 22.4% approved of having them in their neighborhood.

The most commonly cited safety concerns included noise issues, not knowing the guests, and fear of renters hosting parties. 

Younger people tended to be more open to short-term rentals, with 64% of millennials saying they wouldn’t be comfortable opening their home to short-term renting, compared to 77.5% of baby boomers. 

Additionally, those who already knew their next door neighbors would be more comfortable with those neighbors hosting short term lodgers via sites like AirBnb. 

 Another survey said that common safety concerns of customers of AirBnb had concerns around surveillance and trustworthiness of hosts, with privacy being a growing barrier to adoption.

The number of people who were concerned about privacy and safety related to short term rentals increased 10% in the U.S. and 25% in Europe over the last year.

However, some of this growing concern is attributed to lobbyists and opponents of AirBnb in the hotel industry promoting fear to regain market traction.

 13% of non Airbnb users listed safety as their primary reason for not using the platform. 

One unexpected facet of AirBnb consumer perspective around safety was that it tended to have racial bias, with guests in black neighborhoods more likely to review the place they stayed as dangerous, shady or risky, and these perceptions rarely lined up with actual crime statistics in the areas where the AirBnb was located.

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